“You’re not.” Kane wrapped his hands around my hips, still kneeling in front of the chair I sat in. “This isn’t your fault, babe. Grayson would do anything for his next fix.”

“But that’s so low . . . even for him.”

“Doesn’t get much douchier than that.”

I laughed and opened my arms to him.

“What?” He cocked a brow.

“The word douchier. Now hold me to make up for this morning.”

He pulled me close and spoke in my ear. “I’ll hold you all you want, but I also brought you something.”

“You did?” I pulled back and looked at the sack he’d left on my desk.

Kane got up and reached into the sack. “Remember when we were out walking a couple weeks ago and we stopped at that bakery? You tried a chocolate and I thought you were gonna come right there in the store.”

“Hey.” I swatted his thigh. “I wasn’t that into it.”

“You were all ooooh. Mmmmm. Yes.”

“Okay, maybe. It was really good chocolate. Anyway. . . .”

“I got you a whole box.” He pulled out a long white box with a red bow tied around it.

“Oh, Kane.” I took the box and smiled up at him. “That was so sweet. Thank you so much. I’m gonna eat the hell out of these.”

He reached into the sack again, pulling out another box. “This, too.”

“You shouldn’t have.” I shook my head. “I mean, you should have on the chocolates. I’m keeping those. But nothing else.”

“Just open it,” he growled, thrusting the box at me.

“Okay.” I pulled the gold wrapping paper from a small box and found a beautiful black and gray scarf inside. “Oh, this is gorgeous. You bought this? For me?”

He shrugged. “I know a lady who owns a boutique. She wraps Brooklyn’s presents for me. She said you’d like it.”

“I do. I love it. Thank you.”

He reached into the bag again.

“Kane, no. Seriously. I don’t want you thinking you have to spend a bunch of money to get my forgiveness. You have it, okay?”

His face fell. “Okay. That’s good, but . . . I wanted to buy you these things. I’m no fucking good at saying stuff.”

I stood and cupped both his cheeks in my hands. “Let’s work on that instead of you buying me presents.”

“You don’t want this, then?” He pulled out a small blue box.

“Tiffany?” I pressed my lips together, trying to stay strong. “Whatever’s in that box, I don’t need it. I just need you.”

“What if you can have both?”

I considered. “Well . . . maybe. I mean, if we agreed that you won’t buy me anything else for a very long time. That can be my Christmas present.”

He smiled and handed me the box. “Just open it.”

I did, relishing the moment. It had been years since I’d had a relationship so serious it involved gifts. And I’d only gotten a nice coffee bean grinder out of that one.

The necklace made my heart skip a beat. On the delicate silver chain was a pendant; a lower case letter ‘k’ with sparkling inlaid diamonds.

“The saleslady said I should get you a ‘v’, but I liked this idea better. To remind you . . . you know. And this way when some asshole strikes up a conversation by asking about your necklace, you can tell him the ‘k’ stands for me.”

“Or ‘kill’?” I smiled and ran my fingers over the pendant.

“Yeah, that’s good too, since I’ll kill ‘em if they touch you.”

“Oh, Kane.”

“You can’t say that here, Viv,” he said in a low tone. “You know what that does to me.”

“Well, you had me naked and willing this morning,” I reminded him.

“Fuck.” He rolled his eyes up at the ceiling.

“This is so beautiful. Thank you.” I leaned up and kissed him. “Will you put it on me?”

“Yeah.”

I took the necklace out and handed it to him, sweeping my hair up to make room for him to clasp it. He fumbled with it for a few seconds.

“The fuck is this thing?” he grumbled. “It’s the smallest shit I’ve ever seen. I can’t even get my thumb on it.”

“I’ll have Cara do it.”

“Okay.” He handed it back to me. “I have to go, I’ve got a meeting at the bank.”

I turned to look at him. “I’m so glad you came by. I feel so much better.”

He kissed me softly. “Me too. Can you have dinner with me at the club tonight? To celebrate?”

“Celebrate what?”

“I’m about to buy out one of the other Six investors. I’ll own a one-third stake after this meeting.”

“Kane! That’s fantastic. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just did.”

“I mean sooner. That’s the best news.”

He shrugged. “I meant to, but you distracted me with your body.”

“Yes on dinner. I can’t wait.”

“Maybe, uh . . .” He stroked a hand over his beard, his nervous habit. “Maybe we can also talk about me trying to see Brooklyn?”

My heart leapt with excitement. “Yes, we can.”

“Come whenever you can. I’ll see you then.”

He kissed me again and left, giving me a crooked, heart-melting smile on his way out the door.

I sat back down, opening the chocolates and sighing happily as the first one melted in my mouth.

“So,” Cara said, appearing in my office with a huge grin. “He came to see you here?”

“Yeah. He was in a mood when he left this morning, so he came to apologize.”

“With a Tiffany box?” She was eyeing my desk. “Damn, girl, you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger.”

“I’m really into him, too, you know.”

“The paralegals were hitting on him in the lobby. It was so funny.”

It didn’t sound funny to me. I felt a stab of possessiveness. Still holding the necklace, I held it out to Cara. “Will you put this on for me?”

She came around my desk and took it. “K? Oh, no. No, no, no. That is too sickeningly sweet.”

“Shut up and put it on me.”

“I can’t believe things are this serious between you guys.”

“I don’t know why not. He’s the best man I’ve ever been with.”

She made a skeptical humming sound. “You just seemed like an odd match. But I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. What about you? Are you still seeing that guy from the club?”

“I am.” She fastened my necklace and came back around to the front of my desk.

“When do I get to hear about him?”

“Soon.”

“Okay.” I held out the box of chocolates and she took one. “Sit.”

She did. “Holy shit, that’s good.”

“I know, right?” I took a deep breath. “So I’m going to need your help with something.”

“Okay.”

“This is confidential.”

She nodded and waited for me to continue.

“Kane has a daughter he’s never met. She’s nine. It’s a long story. She lives with her mother about an hour from here. He wants to request some sort of visitation. Will you—”

“Of course. And pro bono, of course. I’ll do whatever he needs.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m gonna need another chocolate.”

I handed her the box. She’d just agreed to take on a case that would’ve billed thousands for nothing, so it was the least I could do. This had to work out. I’d planted the idea of Kane trying to meet his daughter, and if it blew up, I’d feel responsible. For now, all I could do was hope Cori was receptive to Brooklyn meeting him. And more importantly, that Brooklyn wanted it, too.

Kane

WHO THE HELL IS THAT guy?

I paused and took a second look at my reflection in the mirror above my bathroom sink in the club. How long had it been since I’d actually looked at myself? I’d avoided it for so long because what I saw was a man who was pissed off at the world and hated himself.

But something was different now. For one, I had a head full of short, dark hair. Shaving it bald had been part of making myself unapproachable. A guy with tats, a bald head and a permanent scowl who’s as likely to rip you a new asshole as say hello isn’t someone people even want to make eye contact with.

And my appearance hadn’t changed much, besides the hair. But I saw something so much different in the mirror.